


Stakeout

by brokenhighways



Series: The Adventures of Jane & Cho [4]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Character Study, Epic Bromance, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Post-Canon, Relationship Discussions, Snark, Stakeout, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:49:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29801805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: Cho closes his book. "Really? You're casting me as Superman?""It makes sense,"Jane says. "I'm Batman. Lisbon is Alfred. Rigsby is Green Arrow. Van Pelt is Black Canary - and not just because they're married, but because her bark is worse than her bite.""Wow." Cho opens his book again. "Wait until I tell Lisbon you cast her as your butler."
Relationships: Kimball Cho & Patrick Jane
Series: The Adventures of Jane & Cho [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855567
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Stakeout

It's almost midnight and Jane and Cho are parked up on a residential street, watching and waiting for their latest suspect to show up at his elderly parents' house. The car reeks of fast food - none of which he ate, and he's starting to wonder  _ why _ he allowed Jane to come along.

He's always chatty during stakeouts, and tonight so no exception. He thought they were done yapping, but now Jane is done with his cheeseburger and talking again after fifteen blissful moments of silence.

"You know, when I was a kid in the circus, I was obsessed with Robin."

Cho loses his place in his book, some chick-lit novel he picked up at a dollar store to keep himself occupied on stakeouts. It's only because he's reached the point where the words are bleeding into a blur that he entertains the conversation at all.

"Who's Robin?" Cho keeps his eyes on the page even though he's no longer reading. The last thing he needs is for Jane to think he's  _ interested _ in chatter about anything non-work related.

"Batman's sidekick. His family were part of a circus act called The Flying Graysons."

"Oh." Cho looks up from the book. " _ That _ Robin."

Jane grins at him and half-rolls his eyes. "Let me guess, you think comics are for nerds and geeks?"

"No." Cho looks down at his book. "I think  _ Batman _ is for nerds. Geeks are too cool for Batman."

"You have to admit, he has flair. He's selfless in his own way. He pushes boundaries, and barely utters a world while doing it. Kind of like you, actually."

"He's a sociopathic billionaire." Cho turns a page. "Who wears tights at night. While dressed as a  _ bat _ . He's not selfless, he's insane."

"That just gives him character." Jane takes a messy slurp of his Diet Coke. "Fine. If you don't like Batman, who do you like? There's a hero you relate to. If you didn't, you wouldn't have engaged in this conversation at all."

"Why don't you do your whole Jane thing and figure it out." Cho sweeps the perimeter with his eyes, wondering how he ended up on stakeout duty with Jane  _ again _ .

"Let me see. You're direct. You're by the book. You believe in doing the right thing. You call it as you see it. You've also got a dark side, one that you try to resist so much it strips you of any visible emotion. You're scared that if you embrace it even a little, you'll become the very thing you protect people from."

Cho closes his book. "Really? You're casting  _ me _ as Superman?"

"It makes sense,"Jane says. "I'm Batman. Lisbon is Alfred. Rigsby is Green Arrow. Van Pelt is Black Canary - and not just because they're married, but because her bark is worse than her bite."

"Wow." Cho opens his book again. "Wait until I tell Lisbon you cast her as your  _ butler _ ."

"I think she'll survive."

"I'm no Superman." Cho closes the book. "I don't think anyone is. Unless there's someone out there who can shoot laser beams from their eyes."

Jane smiles. "It depends on how you look at the character. Superman is only super in terms of his physicality. On a basic level, he's just as human as the rest of us. He makes sacrifices. He protects the ones he loves, even when it hurts him. And while he has very few physical weaknesses, he has emotional ones. Why else would his rogue gallery go after Lois Lane all the time?"

If he didn't suspect that this was an ambush already, Jane mentioning Lois Lane does it.

Cho tosses the book onto the back seat. "I'm guessing 'Green Arrow' told you about Summer?"

Summer's life has been thriving since Cho insisted she leave, knowing that their relationship wasn't doing her any good. She needed more than what he could give her - and she found it. She called two days ago to let him know that baby number four is on the way, and Cho has been out of sorts since. Call it old age, call it his mother constantly asking him where her grandbabies are. There's always going to be a part of him that feels like she's the one who got away - and he  _ hates _ himself for that.

"I was wondering when you'd figure it out. I have to say, I didn't think it would take a discussion about superheroes to get us to this point."

"Look, I'm happy for her. And I'm happy on my own, alright? I don't need an intervention."

"Well, I told Rigsby that, but he insisted I be here. The Justice League always has each other's backs."

"I'm glad that she's happy."

"... but?"

"It's always a reminder that I did the opposite. I got her hurt. I put her in danger. I was never good enough."

Jane nods. "Well, my friend, I know a thing or two about that. I loved my first wife, but I'll be honest I was never there. I was too busy being a showman. With Teresa…"

"You wanted her to sit at home for the rest of her life under your watchful eye and she told you where to go," Cho says. "I know. I've heard the story from both of your perspectives in painstaking detail."

"It's my own fault," Jane sighs. "Men like me don't get a happy ending. We muddle through and live with our bad choices."

"You should never have married her in the first place."

Jane smiles. "I guess I'm selfish that way. You know...Lisbon once asked me if I'd do it all over again. Go toe to toe with Red John for ten years."

Cho doesn't need to be a mind reader to figure this out. "You said yes, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. I'm  _ Batman _ . Grief is who I was. What I was. Still am. It never goes away and at this point, it's never going to go away. I've accepted that for  _ myself. _ I can't be the husband Lisbon needs. I'll try as hell to be the father I need to be, but they're safer this way."

"Is this the part where you ask me if I'd do it all over again?"

Cho isn't going to comment on Jane and Lisbon's ill-fated marriage. He sees both sides of the equation. Jane loves Lisbon in his own way, but he's selfish. Too depraved to give up the armour he wears. Lisbon, on the other hand, is drawn to men who will never be present, the way her father wasn't. Much like with her younger brothers, she took on the role of protector with Jane and it backfired. Jane spiralled deeper into the abyss and now there's no way back.

_ Damn _ , he thinks.  _ She really is Alfred _ .

"I don't need to," Jane says, jolting Cho out of his thoughts. "We both know you'd rather die than make the same mistake twice."

It's true, and Cho hates that he's right. What if he  _ wants _ to be more like Jane? Take what he wants just because he can.

"Maybe I need to be more like you. Be more selfish."

There's a pregnant pause, a moment in which Jane regards him quietly and answers him with his eyes. They're full of the same regret and self-loathing Jane sees in the people they investigate day in and out. The same shadows that always lurk in the dark.

Once you follow the path to darkness, there's no turning back - Cho understands that. It's why he is the way he is. He knows what the other side looks like. He hasn't been as far as Jane, but he's stood on the edge and looked down enough times to know that he prefers the light.

"Nah," Jane says, breaking the moment without any preamble. "I like you just the way you are, Boy Scout."

"Call me that again and I  _ will _ shoot you."

"Didn't we just go over this?" Jane asks. "I believe there's protocol. A little thing called due process? We all know you're a stickler for the rules!"

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

Jane's grin only grows wider. 


End file.
